SC Prison Escapee Arrested in Rhode Island

A South Carolina prison escapee on the run for more than 30 years reportedly chose Bristol, Rhode Island as his hideout until his arrest Wednesday.

Armin B. Christian, 65, of 289 High St., Bristol, had reportedly been on the run since he escaped from a South Carolina prison on Dec. 25, 1980. Christian was wanted on a South Carolina Department of Corrections warrant for a charge of Escape from a Correctional Facility. Christian had been sentenced in November 1980 to eleven months for Domestic/Non-Payment of Child Support.

Christian escaped from the now defunct Piedmont Work Center near Greenville. Authories had believed Christian to be in Miami with ties to Pennsylvania and Georgia. 

Members of the State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force and Bristol police tracked Christian, arresting him Wednesday about 8:45 a.m. as he was leaving the High Street home, according to Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. He was arrested without incident, according to reports.

Christian was arraigned today in the 6^th Division District Court in Providence as a Fugitive from Justice. Christian waived extradition and is being held at the Adult Correctional Institution on $50,000 Double Surety Bail for South Carolina authorities. Christian has a prior arrest record for Breaking and Entering, Receiving Stolen Goods, and Burglary in the State of Florida, dating back to the 1960s.